Trolley-harp.



No. 874,979. PATENTEDIDEG. 31, me?.

w. J. MURPHY'.

TROLLEY` HARP.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 20, 1904. BEEWED OT. 31, 1907.

nnrTnn sTnTns rnTnnT orion- WILLIAM J. MURPHY, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO FRANK B. KENNEDY, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

TROLLEY-HARP. f

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 31, 1907.

Application tiled July 20. 1904:, Serial No. 217,346. Renewed October 31, 1907. Serial No. 400.069.

To all whom it 'may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM J MURPHY, a citizen of the'Unitedl States, residing at Bridgeport, county of Faireld, State oi' Connecticut, have invented a new and useful T rolley-llarp, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has for its object to provide trolley harps, so called, that is the yokes by which trolley wheels are carried, which shall be simple and inexpensive to make, durable,

not liable to get out of repair', will provide a perfect contact, will prevent jumping of the trolley wheels and the 'flashing caused by breaking oi the current between the wheel or bushing andthe axle in the ordinary con struction ol'A trolley harps, will have no pins, axles or independent parts to drop and which shall be so constructed to permit a wheel to be 'readily removed and another wheel,

for example va sleet wheel, to be substituted in its place.

In trolley harps as ordinarily constructed,

the wheel turns upon a pin which is driven through the sides or arms of the harp and serves asa bearing for the wheel.` The wear is principally upon the wheels which are quite expensive and frequently wear brit a very short time. in practice, worn wheels are sometimes bushcd and made to serve a little longerr but they quickly wear loose again and there is a-constant jumping of the wieels and llashing caused by the breaking of the current between the wheel or the bush ing and the axle. v

Mypresent invention enables me to practically overcome this diliculty and to provide a harp that may be attached to anyy kind of pole and will last for an almost unlimited leng'th of time anda trolley wheel that will ontlast quite a number of ordinary trolley wheels and which may. be removed and a new one substituted in its place in a rnoments time. This convenient substitutionto one trolley wheel for another proves an important feature of construction when a trolley wheel becomes worn on a long run and especially ii it is found necessary or desirable to substitute a sleet wheel for a smooth wheel when at a distance from the car station, as it is JfrequentlyA uite a difficult matter in cold and icy weat ier to drive out the axle pin of ordinary trolley wheels and there being considerable danger of droplines; Fig. 2 a plan view; Fig. 3` a section on i the line 3 3 in Fig. 1 looking toward the left; and Fig. 4 is a view of a sleet wheel detached.

' A denotesa trolley pole, B my novel harp as a whole and C a trolley wheel which is cast or otherwise made with integral unitary trunnions 10. The harp consists essentially of a shank l1, a fixed arm 12 and an upper movable arm 13 wl'lich is hinged to the viixed arm as at 14. The trunnions of the trolley wheel rest in bearings 15 which may bernadc of Babbitt or other suitable metal and which lie in recesses 16 in fixed arm l2. These `bearings are shown as provided in their underside with grooves 17 which receive corres vending ribs 18 in the recesses and retain tllel bearings against lateral displacement.' Both oi" thearms are biiurcated, the branches of upper arm 13 being indicated by 19 and the branchesv of the lower fixed arm, which carry the bearings, being indicated by 20. The trolley wheel lies between these branches as clearly shown in'Fig's. 2 and 3.

lln practice, the branches of the u pper' arm rest upon thc trunnions as indicated in Fig.

1', the branches being shaped so as to provide fory variation in the size oi the trunnions and for wear of the trunnions, which however in practice when the trollenvr wheel trunnions are cast in brass and the bearings are made of Babbitt metal is very slight. The branches yoi: the upper arm are shown as provided on the underside with projecting lugs 30 which are adapted to engage corresponding recesses in the upper face of the branches of the 'fixed arm to retain the arms against lateral displacement.

21 denotes spring pockets formed in the corresponding upper and lower branches of the arms, the upper end of each pocket being closed as clearly` shown in Fig. 1 so as to exclude ice and snow.

22 denotes springs irl-these pockets, the oppositeends of which are connected to screw bolts 23 at the opposite ends of the pockets. That is to say, theupper end of each spring is secured to a screw bolt in the yupper end of the portion of the pocket in one poseof inserting or removing a trolley w eel and normally draw the branches of the upper arm down upon the trunnions which are thus retained in the bearings, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. In order however to provide a lock that will prevent the trolley wheel from being thrown from its bearings should the wheel leave the wire violently, I provide a bail 24 4which is pivoted to the branches of theupper movable arm as at 25. v This bail swings around under the lower fixed arm and is provided with shoulders 26 which engage the underside of the lower fixed arm and thus render it impossible for the arms to become separated and the trolley wheel to be thrown quire further ex lanation.

` another substituted in its place.

from its bearings.A This bail, in addition to locking the movable arm in place, performs several other important functions in that it serves as a convenient lift by which to raise the upper arm when swung upward, as in dotted lines in Fig. 1,A in order to remove or insert a trolley wheel, is provided with a ring or eye 27 to which the trolley cord.28 is attached and by inclosing the trolley wheel on the underside it forms a guard and renders it impossible for the trolley wheel to engage the wire from above when the ole is pulled down after the wheel has been t irown ofl.

29 denotes a sleet wheel, that is a trolley wheel having its groove provided with a roughened surface in order to crack sleet and ice off from a trolley wire. Sleet wheels are found practically indispensable in icy weather but are not used at other times for' the reason that under ordinary conditions wheels having a smooth groove provide the best contact.

The operation will be so obvious from the description already given as hardly to re- In order to reinove a trolley w eel and insert a new one as in changing from a-smooth wheel to a sleet wheel or vice versa, the operator simply swings the bail upward over the upper arm as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1 and raises the upper arm against the power of the spring sufficiently to permit thc trolley wheel already in the bearings to be'removed and As soon as the upper arm is released the springs will draw it down upon the trunnions, as in Fig. 1, and by swinging the bail downward to the full line position in Fig. 1 the arms arc locked together so that the wheel cannot. possibly be thrown from its bearings. The trolley cord isattached to the bail which incloses the trolley wheel from vside to side and serve.r as a guard therefor so that in pulling the pole flown after the wheel has been thrown oil? from the wire, the wheel cannot engage the wire from above but the wire will be engaged by the bail which will slip downward past the wire and enable the operator to place the trolley wheel in engagement with the underside of the wire.

I-laving thus described my invention I claim:

1. A trolley harp comprising a shank, a fixed arm provided with bearings, a trolley wheel provided with unitary trunnit-is which engage the bearings and a hinged rpper arm the free end of which rests over the trunnions. y

2. A trolley harp comprising a fixed bifur cated arm provided with bearings, a bifurcated upper arm hinged to the ixed arm, a trolley wheel lying between the branches of the arms and having unitary trunnions engaging the bearings, and springs connecting the corresponding branches of the arms and acting to retain the branches of the upper arm in engagement with the trunnions.

3. A trolley harp comprising a lixed bifureatcd arm provided with bearin s, a bifurcated upper arm hinged to the ed arm, spring pockets in the corresponding branches of the arms, springs in said pockets whose opposite ends are connected to the respective arms, and a trolley wheel having unitary trunnions which engage the bearings.

4. A trolley harp comprising a iixed arm provided with bearings, an u per arm hinged thereto, a trolley wheel having unitary trunnions engaging the bearings and a ball pivotcd to the upper arm and adapted to swing under the lower-arm and serve as a lock to prevent the trolley wheel from being thrown from its bearings and as a guard to prevent the wheel from engaging the wire from above.

5. A trolley harp comprising a fixed bifurcated arm having recesses provided with ribs, bearings having grooves in their underside engaging the ribs, a bifurcated upper arm hinged to the fixed arm anda trolley wheel lying between the branches of the arms and having unitary trunnions engaging the bearings.

6. A. trolley harp comprising a fixed arm provided with bearings, an upper arm hinged thereto, a 'trolley wheel having unitary trunnions engaging the bearings and a bail pivoted to the upper arm and 'provided with shoulders ada ted to engage the fixed arm, as and for tiie purpose set forth.

T. In a trolley harp, the combination of a shank pruvided with a pair of bifurcated lower arms,apair of bifurcated u per arms hinged to the said shank, means or removably supporting e trolley Wheel loetween the two pairs of arms, end s spring device 'for hoioliiig the seid pairs of erms toward eiteh other. 8. A troi- 'ilserp, oom provided "th e pair of Harms, e pair of biuroeted upper arms hinge to the seid shank to close over the said lower seme, meses for removebl supporting a troiiey Wheel between the seid pairs of arms, e spring device for holdin' the seid eirs of -ei'xs together to yielding y retein tlie said wheel in position, and e positive looking device com rising e heil hinged to one peir of ei'ms en errehged to swing erouud the ends oi the other per of arms to positiveiy loot: the seid pairs of arms together.

9. It trolley harp, having in combination e @hoek provided with e pair of biuroeted lower amis, e pair of biliroeted upper erms rising e shank hingeel to the seid lower arms, seats comprising e looking pair oi' the seidy firms other pair of arms arms positively together, teeliing the trolley oord pull of the oord when esiti slifml and overlying the lvotweeii the seid pairs of arms for removably supporting s trolley wheel, siy spring device fior yieldingly holdingtlie said pairs of arms together to prevent unintentional displacement oi' the Wheel therefrom, ond e positive looking' device Aeil hinged to one to swing ei'oun to hold the two pairs of and means for et to the bail to hold the letter toward its looked position oy the iii running position.

d the le testimony whereof l eix my signature, 35

iii presence of two Witnesses.

WliLLlAM il., Witnesses:

A. M. Woosres,

S. W. Animatori.

lURPHY. i 

